50. Tertullian has composed a defence, or rather panegyric,
of the rash action of a Christian soldier, who, by throwing
away his crown of laurel, had exposed himself and his
brethren to the most imminent danger. By the mention of the
emperors (Severus and Caracalla) it is evident,
notwithstanding the wishes of M. de Tillemont, that
Tertullian composed his treatise De Corona long before he
was engaged in the errors of the Montanists. See Memoires
Ecclesiastiques, tom. iii. p. 384.